National Federation Report Finds Bright Spots in Shadowed Times

These charts from the National Federation of Community Development Credit Union's report, "Financial Trends in Community Development Credit Unions" illustrates that while credit unions reaching out to serve the underserved have been struggling in the downturn, there has been some good news.
In 2008, CDCUs, collectively, saw growth in five of seven loan categories, with only "other secured" and "new vehicle" loans showing declines. Even in the midst of the current mortgage crisis and, in part, because of it, CDCUs saw their first-mortgage loans go up by over 16%
"The increase in mortgage lending for CDCUs is significant since it came at a time when other lenders were tightening credit," the report noted. "Credit unions as a whole increased their mortgage originations by 17% in 2008, increasing their portfolio share of total mortgage lending from 2.5% in 2007 to 4.7% in 2008."
--dmorrison@cutimes.com